on a whim..i brewed a ginger beer.anybody ever done this?i've never had it.it was simple to make.1 1/2 pounds of raw ginger root..sliced2 pounds amber malt dry extract1lb quality honey1 qt water...boiled 20 minadded 7 qts water ..then ice bathed to 70 degrees.pitched safale 05 1 packits been in the primary 2 days and is bubbling constantly.just curious if this is something that no one can drink.do i need to secondary?sounds crazy..not sure why i did it..i had an open carboy..this is only supposed to take 2 weeks.your thoughts ,please ,gents.

calling all Brits?i believe the chlorine in me gene pool may have subliminally compelled me to do this....my wife told me this might be the one the women folk ( she and her friends) might actually drink.they wont touch anything with hops..lolof course..brew day is an incursion on her kitchen...lol

doh..i guess no takers on this one..no harm no foul....i am thinking it is only certain styles are inclusive...doh..any brits aussies or newzeelanders out there?..beer is universal...i hope ..humblei am

I've had some really good Ginger beers, most notably one at a beer bar in Manhatten called The Ginger Man. All of those beers were belgian's with pilsner malt, hops and Ginger root. But nothing like your recipie. Let me know how it turns out.

I recently made a brown ale with ginger, I think it had around an ounce or so or fresh grated ginger added at flameout. It has good ginger flavor and I think it compliments the malty flavor of the brown ale. My friend liked my previous ginger ale that was lighter and more ginger-forward.

I have something quite similar bottle conditioning right now. The taster I pulled when fermentation was over (I usually drink my hydrometer sample) was good, but pretty dry. I may try mixing in some simple syrup when I serve it, and figuring out a way to get more residual sweetness next time.

This thread made me thirsty, so this evening I put one together based on a recipe I made before. Here are my session notes - a quick and easy session! It's a refreshing, potent fermented beverage, not exactly a true beer - no hops.

In batches in food processor or blender, blend coarsely chopped ginger (I scraped it first), quartered lemons (12 - 13 whole lemons),and raisins to fine pulp. I juiced the lemons first but just to remove seeds, and re-added the juice.

In 2 gallons boiling water, add DME and piloncillo and boil for a total of 15 - 20 minutes, stirring to dissolve the piloncillo. You can also replace the piloncillo with more white sugar.I just wanted to try it in there. Add nutrient last 10 minutes of boil, and last 5 minutes (or knockout) add remaining sugars.At knockout, add the pulp mixture. I let it sit off the heat a few minutes and then chilled the wort mixture (3 gallons) down to about 75F with a sanitized immersion chiller,and then stirred in cold water to end with a total of 6 gallons at 64F.

Then I aerated the wort, sprinkled the 2 packs of yeast on top, waited 15 minutes,and stirred it in with some anti-foam drops, just in case.

Last time I made it I used US-05, but today I had the US-04 on hand.

It might be preferable to primary 7 - 10 days, then secondary 7 days, to get thebeer off the fruit and then let it finish. That's what I did last time but it was 5 years ago, so I don't recall the condition of the fruit after 10 days. I may just primary two weeks then prime and bottle. Or per Richard, whose recipe this is, you can just jug it uncarbonated, or keg it.

During primary fermentation last time, airlock activity was slow, prolongedand steady, rather than vigorous at first as with normal beer.

thanks for all the replies...its been 1 1/2 weeks and the beer is clearing to an nice amber color..probably because i chose2 pounds of amber DME...the 17 oz of honey..i hope will ferment out dry.its still,after the week and a half,blurts out bubbles into the lock occassionly.

If the fruit looks like it is deteriorating - getting towards slimey, I would rack off of it, and let the ferment finish. It's your beer so it's your call! Personally, since it's just ginger, I'd think you might be able to get by with a few more days in primary and then bottle. What is the current gravity reading? If you are nearly fermented out it's less of an issue to rack off the fruit.

Assuming you are confident the beer is fermented dry, I would add the measured amount of sugar, boiled in a little water for ten minutes and stirred into the bottling bucket with the beer, but that's just how I roll!